Donald Trump

Restaurant's Cinco De Mayo Celebration Features Inflatable Border Wall, Green Card

The restaurant said the aim was to make a political statement

A California restaurant is under fire for a Cinco de Mayo celebration that featured an inflatable climbing wall and "green card" drink tickets.

On Friday, Hennessey's Tavern in Dana Point set up an inflatable climbing wall outside the restaurant. Patrons who successfully climbed the wall received a "green card" that entitled them to a free drink.

The event came days after President Donald Trump signed a federal budget plan that diverted funds from his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to build a wall to deter immigration along the border. 

Some Hennessey's Tavern patrons said they were offended by the activity.

Laycee Barragato Gibson posted photos of the blowup wall on Facebook and described the activity as "disgusting," ending her post with the hashtag "#trumpsamerica."

In a statement posted on Facebook Saturday night, tavern founder Paul Hennessey said the aim was to make a political statement.

"Our intentions were to create a dialogue and show how ridiculous that it is to spend tens of millions of dollars to build a wall and even infer that Mexico foot some or the entire bill and have their citizens build it," Hennessey wrote.

Hennessey said some did not understand the intent of the event, but he said expressing outage on social media was not a constructive use of time.

"I encourage all of you to take the time that you have spent posting on social media to spend an equal or greater amount of time writing your congressman or the President himself to express your concerns just as I have," Hennessey wrote. "Let's stop this wall from being built." 

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